Wild Bees in a Averrhoa carambola Tree

A few weeks back I attended a book club gathering of the Slow Food Sarasota group ... they were discussing a book, "Fruitless Fall", about the decline of honey bees. It was held in the Rosemary District the evening of Rosemary Rising, an annual holiday open street party and event.

I met someone who was interested in learning more about beekeeping. She told me about a wild hive near her house in a Starfruit tree.

Yesterday, December 20th, was the day we had decided to capture this wild hive and give it a proper home. It was a small hive without much comb or honey stores and it would not likely make it through the cold temperatures.

The hive was attached to a dead branch that was stuck in the "V" in the trunk of the tree. I started by smoking the hive, although the bees were huddled tightly in the comb, probably due to the cooler weather. I trimmed the ends of the branch with a saw and then used my hive tool to loosen the hive where it was attached to the tree trunk. I was then able to easily lift the hive and place it in a box. We left the box open at the base of the tree and returned near dusk, to allow time for foraging bees to return.

This morning, I tranferred the hive into a waxed cardboard nuc box and set it up in a sunny location near the lanai in my backyard. I also set out a feeder with a sugar syrup ( 6 cups sugar and 3 cups water).

I watched the hive this morning as the first bees exited the hive flying in a spiral pattern straight up about 30 feet, then away.

By late this afternoon, bees had found a pollen source and were feeding actively on the feeder and returning to the hive with bodies laden with pollen. Amazing, after being transplanted from the Starfruit tree to a location almost 15 miles away, they wasted no time in locating a source of pollen in their new neighborhood.

Thanks to Stacey for her help in getting the bees captured ... And for the chocolate chip, peanut butter, oatmeal cookies and coquito that we enjoyed afterwards. With a little help, this hive should survive the winter and be in good shape once the spring nectar and pollen sources are more abundant.

Two pictures of the hive as it was in the Starfruit tree are to the right!